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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 



PRELIMINARY BULLETIN 



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LIBRARY 



UNITED STATES 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
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PRELIMINARY BULLETIN f. k 

OF 



ONE ROOM SCHOOL BUILDINGS 



ISSUED BY 



THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 



MEMBERS OF BOARD 
MARTIN G. BRUMBAUGH, Phil DAVID B. OLIVER, Pittsburg 

GEORGE M. PHILIPS. Wast Chester JOHN S. RILLING. Erie 

WILLIAM LAUDER. Riddlesburgh JAMES M. COUGHUN. Wilke.-B.ne 

NATHAN C. SCHAEFFER, Harrisburg 

OFFICERS 
NATHAN C SCHAEFFER, President, Ex-officio H. C. RICHARDS. Architect 

DAVID B. OLIVER. Vice President J. E. B. CUNNINGHAM. Solicitor 

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY 

J. GEORGE BECHT. 

Hamsburg 

CLERKS AND STENOGRAPHERS 
MISS EDNA M KUGLER MISS FRIEDA MYLECRAINE 



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"Who would not rather do one living deed than to have his 
ashes forever enshrined in ever-burnished gold? Sir, I trust 
that when we come to act on this question, we shall take lofty 
ground — look beyond the narrow space which now circum- 
scribes our vision — beyond the passing, fleeting point of time 
on which we stand — and so cast our votes that the blessing of 
education shall be conferred on every son of Pennsylvania — 
shall be carried home to the poorest child of the poorest in- 
habitant of the meanest hut of your mountains, so that even 
he may be prepared to act well his part in this land of free- 
dom, and lay on earth a broad and a solid foundation for that 
enduring knowledge which goes on increasing through in- 
creasing eternity." — From speech of Thaddeus Stevens. 



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FOREWORD. 

The purpose of this bulletin is to present to boards of direc- 
tors suggestive standard plans and limited specifications for 
the construction of one room school buildings. People living 
in rural and suburban districts are demanding that the school 
houses shall be made more comfortable and shall be better 
adapted for good school work. There is a waste of time and 
of energy when school children are crowded in buildings con- 
structed without regard to sanitary and hygienic require- 
ments. The School Code specifically requires that school 
houses built hereafter must conform to the modern principles 
of lighting, heating, ventilating and physical activity. 

An attractive school house surrounded by large and well- 
kept school grounds is the best public asset in any community. 
The day of the barn-like structure is passing rapidly. A sub- 
stantially built school house designed to meet the needs and 
purposes of the children, with due regard for modest artistic 
effects of grace and beauty, will profoundly influence the 
whole community life. Such a building costs but little, if any, 
more than the severely plain, uninteresting and uninviting 
school house of t-he "olden time." 

To aid directors in considering the elementary questions 
involved in school house construction this bulletin is issued 
under the direction and by authority of the State -Board of 
Education. 



LOCATION AND GROUNDS. 

The location and amount of any real estate required by any 
school district for school purposes is determined by the board 
of school directors of the district ; but the Code makes special 
provision that hereafter no new school building shall be 

Five 



erected without a proper playground being' provided therefor. 
In this connection, four things ought to be taken into account 
and carefully considered when a new school house is to be 
built: (1) size of ground. (2) accessibility of the site, 
(3) nature of the soil, (4) remoteness from railroads, busy 
thoroughfares and noisy factories. An acre of ground and 
more, if possible, ought to be set apart for school purposes. 
The larger plot will give ample room for recreation and also 
furnish opportunity for laying out flower beds and school 
gardens. 

Generally, the site ought to be near the center of school 
population and easily accessible for the greatest number of 
children; yet this one fact should not out-weigh all other con- 
sideration. A large area of good, healthful soil away from dis- 
tracting influences will add materially to the health, comfort 
and welfare of the pupils and these advantages will more than 
compensate for the possible inconvenience that some pupils 
may experience in walking an additional distance. 

The soil on which the building is to stand ought to be 
as free from moisture as possible. A marshy school ground 
is a serious menace to the health of the children. From the 
view point of good sanitation, a dry, gravelly, sandy soil fur- 
nishes the best location. It is worse than a blunder to expose 
children to the blighting influences of an infected soil. Usually 
in rural districts and in the villages, the annoyances from 
thoroughfare and factory are regarded as inconsiderable. Yet 
even here the rattle of vehicles passing on the highway, the 
shriek of the train and the whir and rumble of machinery in 
the nearby mill or factory are very distracting and visibly 
affect the nervous system of the child. 

The beauty and attractiveness of the school ground will be 
greatly enhanced if trees surround it; and if in addition a 
neatly trimmed and well-kept hedge encircles it. there will 
be an effective example to arouse and stimulate the civic and 
personal pride and the aesthetic sense of the whole com- 
munity. In almost every part of Pennsylvania the native pine. 
spruce or hemlock will lend itself to this adornment. The ef- 

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forts of the pupils may be enlisted in beautifying the school 
surroundings by giving them an opportunity to assist in 
planting the trees and hedges and in caring for them. In 
this way Arbor Days may be given special significance. The 
best school work can be accomplished where the best physical 
conditions prevail. 



LOCATION ON PLOT. 

The selection of the school site is important but not less 
so is the location and adjustment of the building to the shape 
and size of the plot. Assuming the area to be one acre, it 
should measure according to standard form 10 rods by 16 
rods with the short side front. Relatively proportionate meas- 
urements will obtain when the plot is larger or smaller. It is 
impossible to lay down hard and fast rules in regard to such 
matters, since the surroundings vary so widely and these must 
always be taken into account. 

To secure the best light, the windows of the school room 
ought to face toward the east or west. They may also face 
toward the south, if by means of proper curtains the direct 
rays of the sun are softened so that the eyes of the pupils are 
not dazzled and irritated. Every school room ought to have 
direct sunlight during some period of the day to keep it health- 
ful and wholesome. Sunlight is the great germ destroyer. An 
eastern or western exposure gives this for a part of the day 
but the southern exposure, while giving the full day of sun- 
shine, is sure to affect the eyes of the children, if not properlv 
controlled, because of the bright rays that dazzle and disturb 
their sight. Even with proper shades or blinds, great care 
must be exercised in regulating the light coming from a south- 
ern exposure. 



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FLOOR AND AIR SPACE. 

The Code requirement is thai "every school room shall have 
nut less than fifteen square feet of floor space and not le^s 
than two hundred cubic feet of air space per pupil." The 
size of the room ought to be such as to accommodate approxi- 
mately 40 pupils in single seats and leave sufficient space for 
aisles, teacher's desk, reading- tables or any other regularly 
used furniture. A room to fulfill these requirements will 
measure 24x32x13. A slight variation of these dimensions 
may be necessary to suit local conditions. These measure- 
ments conform to the "normal requirements for vision, hear- 
ing and depth to which light will carry." Pupils of normal 
hearing sitting in the rear part of the room will be able to hear 
distinctly the teacher who speaks in moderately forceful nat- 
ural tones. This is of great advantage to teacher and pupil. 
It relieves both of strain and fatigue. 

In considering the Moor space of a building-, the matter of 
cloak rooms, vestibules, library and fuel room ought to receive 
careful attention. These are essential elements in the plan- 
ning of any school building of whatever size or material. 
Separate cloak rooms for boys and girls should be arranged. 
They should be provided with hooks for the hats, cloaks and 
coats, and shelves for the dinner baskets. The doors of the 
cloak rooms should open into the main room. To have them 
open only into the vestibule adds considerably to the prob- 
lem of discipline. It is especially important to keep the cloak 
rooms in a sanitary condition. To that end ample light and 
ventilation should be provided. 

A small room for library and storage purposes has come to 
be one of the most useful agencies of the rural school. With 
very little additional expense such a room may be provided 
with books, book cases, reference works, a table and a few 
chairs. This will give a place for the older pupils to study 
when they have special work to prepare. The library room is 
an indispensible part of the modern country school house. A 
fuel room or fuel basement should also be included in the 



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plans. It will cost less than a separate coal house and will 
add greatly to the convenience of the school plant. 



LIGHT. 

Special attention is called to the requirements of the Code 
governing the question of light area and floor space. "In 
every school room the total light area must equal at least 
twenty per centum of the floor space, and the light shall not 
be admitted from the front of the seated pupils." The best 
light is obtained when the windows are placed on the left side 
of the room only and toward the rear. By this arrangement 
cross lights are prevented and the eyes of the pupils are re- 
lieved from the necessity of continual readjustment to the un- 
equal sources of light. Windows should be placed as near 
together as possible and thus avoid the shadows thrown by in- 
tervening wall space. Unfortunately, the value of uni-lateral 
or one-side lighting is not yet well understood and appre- 
ciated. But scientific, practical demonstration proves beyond 
a doubt that uni-lateral lighting gives the best results in rooms 
when the pupil seated farthest from the window is not distant 
more than twice the height of the top of the window from 
the floor. The window sill should be from 3| to 4 feet above 
the floor and the top of the window should reach as near 
to the ceiling as possible. 

The light of the room is largely modified by the amount of 
blackboard space and the color of the walls. Blackboards ab- 
sorb much of the light and on dark days affect, very ma- 
terially, lighting conditions. The glaring white walls found 
in so many school rooms are equally bad in their effect upon 
the pupils' eyes. The most satisfactory suggestions relating 
to the tinting of the walls come from a report made to the 
school board of New York City by a committee of the best 
known oculists of the city. According to this report, the 
lower portions of the room should be a light brown. Th^ 

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walls should be a light buff tint or a light gray and the ceiling 
should be of ivory white. The effect of this combination of 
tints is very restful and cheerful. Green, which was formerly 
supposed i" be a good school room color for shades and tint- 
ing, is shown by experiment and demonstration to be a very 
troublesome one. Light-colored wood should be selected for 
the furniture and furnishings and the wood work should 
not be highly polished. Natural finish with a dull surface is 
best. 



A PROPER PLAYGROUND. 

A proper playground should be well drained; be easily ac- 
cessible to pupils; fairly level; properly surfaced. A natural 
sanded surface seems to meet ordinary requirements. A sandy 
toam properly underdrained or a sand covered clay will be 
found to give good service as play surfaces. Cinders, gravel 
and broken stone offer many objections tor surfacing pur- 
poses. Manufactured surfaces, such as brick, cement and 
asphalt, are too unyielding to be considered good for play 
purposes. Torpedo gravel and dust macadam make fairly 
satisfactory surfacing. Grass plots are highly desirable For 
play but they can only be maintained in the country where 
large spaces for school grounds are available. There are hun- 
dreds of school playgrounds in Pennsylvania that could be 
made more attractive and useful by the expenditure of a very 
little thought, time and money. 

While the equipment is important, the space for free play 
is of greater importance. If ready made apparatus encumbers 
the -round, the opportunities for mass plays and spontaneous 
games are limited. I 'lay-, are of greater consequence than 
apparatus. 

The amount of play space per pupil ought never to be less 
than 30 square feet. It will be- observed that this provides 

small -pare for actual play, though it gives room for freedom 
of movement. A school ground that affords 100 square feet 

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per pupil oilers opportunities for free play and this should 
be the minimum. In rural communities there should never be 
less than one acre. It will be all the better if a larger area 
can be secured. Two acres, or even four acres, can be profit- 
ably utilized for base ball, tennis and croquet, and a portion 
of the area may be set apart for school gardens. 

A proper playground needs to be properly supervised. If 
a special supervisor is not provided for the play periods, then 
provision must be made to have the teacher attend to these 
activities. 

Public sentiment has been aroused in behalf of the move- 
ment in a very marked degree. In some of the cities inde- 
pendent organizations are furnishing the means for equipping 
and carrying on playgrounds activities. Parents and teachers 
realize that clean, well kept, beautiful surroundings pro- 
foundly influence moral and intellectual growth. 



CODE REQUIREMENTS. 

The Code requires that school buildings hereafter con- 
structed or reconstructed shall comply with the following con- 
ditions : — 

1. The total light area must equal at least 20% of the floor 
space and light shall not be admitted from the front of seated 
pupils. 

2. Every school room shall have not less than 15 square 
feet of floor space and not less than 200 cubic feet of air space 
for each pupil. 

3. School directors are prohibited from using a common 
heating stove for the purpose of heating any school room un- 
less such stove is in part enclosed with a shield or jacket made 
of galvanized iron or other suitable material, of sufficient 
height and so placed as to protect all pupils while seated at 
their desks from the direct rays of heat. 

4. No school room or recitation room shall be used which 
is not provided with ample means of ventilation and whose 

Eleutn 



Windows, when they arc the Only means of ventilation, shall 

not admit oi ready adjustment both at the top and bottom, and 
which does DOl have some device to protect pupils from cur- 
rents o! cold air. 

5. Ever) school room hereafter erected or constructed, 

whose cost shall exceed $4,000. or which is more than one 
story high, shall he s«> heated and ventilated that each school 
room and recitation room shall be supplied with fresh air at 
the rate oi not less than 30 cubic feet per minute for each 
pupil, which air may he heated to an average temperature 
of 70 deg ihrenheit during zero weather. 

6. In districts of the second, third and fourth class, every 
building more than two stories high hereafter built or leased 
for school purposes shall he of fire proof construction. 

All doors of entrance into any building more than one 
story high used for school purposes in this Commonwealth 
shall be made to open outward ; and the board of school direc- 
tors of every district in this Commonwealth shall, before the 
opening of the school term following- the approval of this act, 
change the entrance doors of every school building so that 
they shall all open outward. 

8. Every school building shall be provided with the neces- 
sary fire-escape and safety appliances as required by law. 

9. The State Board of Education cannot undertake to 
prescribe the definite and specific systems of heating and ven- 
tilating that may be employed for the various kinds of build- 
ings in the Commonwealth. It suggests that boards of direc- 
tors in making contracts should be careful to have the speci- 
fications cover the Code requirements. Whatever may be the 
system of heating installed, the specifications, before they can 
be approved by the State Board of Education, must contain 
a statement requiring the contractor to guarantee that the 
system of heating and ventilating described will heat the 
room to a temperature of 70 degrees in zero weather and pro- 
vide at least 30 cubic feet of air per minute for each pupil 
to be accommodated. 



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The following suggestive one-room plans are for the use 
of boards of school directors. If requisition is made upon the 
State Board of Education fur any one of these plans, blue 
prints covering the detailed drawings for building will be 
forwarded. If the proposed building is erected in accordance 
with the plans furnished, boards may proceed without further 
approval. 

In case the plans are used as a basis upon which other 
plans are formulated, then such changed plans together with 
the changed specifications shall be submitted in duplicate to 
the State Board of Education before contract is awarded. 
Floor plans and elevations may be varied to suit local needs. 
It is believed that the following designs combine the maxi- 
mum of comfort, convenience, economy and attractiveness. 



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